No. 105, 05 June 1991

BALTIC STATES
SAJUDIS ORGANIZES VIGILS AROUND PARLIAMENT. On June 4 Radio Independent
Lithuania read an appeal to the people of Lithuania issued by
Sajudis calling for vigils around the parliament building in
Vilnius to help prevent an army attack. The appeal listed a schedule
designating on which night (from June 4 to 10) people from various
raions should gather for the vigil, lasting from 6:00 P.M. to
9:00 A.M. the following morning. Similar vigils are thought to
have played a role in preventing an army attack on the parliament
in January and may serve the same purpose again. (Saulius Girnius)
US CONDEMNS TRUBIN REPORT, TROOP DEPLOYMENTS. On June 4 US State
Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler denounced the report
by Soviet General Prosecutor Nikolai Trubin on the violence in
Vilnius last January, explaining that "videotapes and pictures
taken at the time, and forensic evidence developed by the Lithuanian
authorities, both indicate that Soviet troops were responsible
for the deaths in January." Tutwiler said that Trubin's report
appeared to be "at odds with the facts." Tutwiler also commented
on the troop deployments in Vilnius on June 3, noting that it
was unclear how the latest Soviet display of force in Lithuania
"can be consistent with the expressed intentions of Moscow to
avoid violence." (NCA/Gytis Liulevicius)
IGNATENKO BLAMES LANDSBERGIS. Soviet presidential spokesman Vitalii
Ignatenko, in Oslo arranging for Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's
trip, told reporters June 4 that Chairman of the Lithuanian Supreme
Council Vytautas Landsbergis was responsible for the current
tense situation in Lithuania, Western agencies reported that
day. Ignatenko reportedly said: "Every time US-Soviet relations,
or relations with the West, start looking better, Landsbergis
does something like this." It is, however, difficult to comprehend
how Landsbergis could be considered responsible for the USSR
Prosecutor's report exonerating the Soviet military for the deaths
in Vilnius in January or the setting up of military checkpoints
in Vilnius June 3. (Saulius Girnius)
SHEVARDNADZE CONDEMNS VIOLENCE IN BALTIC STATES Speaking at a
press conference in Paris on June 4, former Soviet Foreign Minister
Eduard Shevardnadze condemned Soviet violence in the Baltic States
and called upon Moscow to begin a "serious, fundamental dialogue
with the Baltic and other republics... there is no other way
[to resolve problems] than to conduct negotiations among equals
in a peaceful atmosphere," a RFE/RL correspondent in Paris reported
that day. While Shevardnadze said that he was not aware of the
details of Soviet troop deployments in Vilnius on June 3, he
said "tanks won't help...and violence just won't work." Force
"is not the right method." (Saulius Girnius)
LITHUANIANS MEET POPE IN POLAND. Pope John Paul II held an outdoor
Mass in Lomza on June 4 in which more than 16,000 Lithuanians
from Poland and Lithuania also participated. Radio Independent
Lithuania reported June 5 that Lithuanian television would broadcast
that night the Pope's meeting with Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevicius
and the Lithuanian Catholic Church hierarchy, as well as Deputy
Chairman of the Lithuanian Supreme Council Ceslovas Stankevicius,
Deputy Prime Minister Zigmas Vaisvila, and Minister of Education
and Culture Darius Kuolys. The Pope held a special Mass for the
Lithuanians in the Lomza Cathedral at 9:00 A.M. today. Sladkevicius
invited the Pope to visit Lithuania next year. (Saulius Girnius)
MOISEEV WARNS LATVIANS ABOUT MILITARY DRAFT. In a letter sent
to Latvian Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs, USSR
First Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Moiseev warned that all
possible measures would be taken in order to fulfill the spring
draft, reported Radio Riga on June 4. Spokesmen for the Military
Commisariat in Latvia told Supreme Council deputies that though
the draft had been met only by about 20-25%, force would not
be used to complete the draft. The deputies were skeptical about
these assurances, recalling the situation in January in Latvia
vis-a-vis conscription. (Dzintra Bungs)
LAW ON POLICE ADOPTED IN LATVIA. Radio Riga reported on June
4 that earlier that day the Supreme Council adopted a law on
police. This means that the present militia would be dismantled
during the coming year and a new police force, loyal to the Republic
of Latvia, would be organized. (Dzintra Bungs)
NO NEW SOVIET ANTI-AIRCRAFT INSTALLATIONS IN LIEPAJA? Commander
of the Soviet forces in Liepaja (Post No. 90450), Boris Fershalov,
told Liepaja mayor Imants Vismins that no new air defense installations
are being constructed in the vicinity of that coastal city, according
to Diena of June 3. His statement contradicts an earlier statement
by Colonel Yurii Zamyatin (see Daily Report, June 3). Fershalov
also expressed interest in closer cooperation between his forces
and the city authorities. (Dzintra Bungs)
LATVIAN ECONOMIC AND POPULATION DATA FOR 1991. On May 18, Radio
Riga reported that about 2,681,000 persons now live in Latvia;
population growth was caused primarily by immigration. The national
economy employs 1,405,000 people. Average monthly income for
those working in the state sector is 365 rubles (270 rubles in
1990), in agriculture--349 rubles (274 rubles last year), and
in cooperatives--470 rubles. In the first quarter of 1991, compared
with the same period last year, housing construction dropped
by 42%. There was also a decline in production of wool material
(-26%), knitwear (-17%), sugar (-45%), meat (-14%), and whole
milk (-21%). (Dzintra Bungs)
VALJAS JOINS SHEVARDNADZE'S THINK TANK. Former ECP First Secretary
Vaino Valjas has joined Shevardnadze's new think tank, Rahva
Haal reported on June 4. Valjas, who was Soviet Ambassador to
Nicaragua before taking over the ECP in June 1988, told Rahva
Haal he hopes his participation in the Foreign Policy Association
will raise international awareness of Estonia's problems: "We
can use this organization's international connections [to that
end]," Valjas said. Valjas' invitation to join the group reportedly
came from Shevardnadze himself. (Riina Kionka)
ESTONIA, AZERBAIJAN SIGN AGREEMENT. Estonia and Azerbaijan have
signed an agreement meant primarily to solidify economic relations
between the two republics. The agreement calls for gradually
moving trade relations to world market prices and for assisting
each other in areas of business services, including marketing,
according to TASS June 4. Permanent trade representatives will
play a major role, and should open up offices in Tallinn and
Baku in the near future. This type of bilateral agreement is
likely to serve as one of the fundamental strategies for the
six republics which do not intend to sign the new Union treaty
but which will still need to rely on good economic relations
with other republics, at least for the foreseeable future. (John
Tedstrom)
AXE NOT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR FINNS. A man wielding an axe
attacked the Finnish consulate in Tallinn on May 31, Rahva Haal
reported June 1. Meelis Kaas, an Economics Ministry consultant
under the old Communist regime and widely believed to be a KGB
employee, took an axe from his Zhiguli (parked illegally in front
of the Finnish consulate) and hacked a hole in the consulate's
window. Police on the scene quickly handcuffed Kaas--who identified
himself as a businessman--and arrested him. Although lines for
Finnish visas are long in Tallinn, and can result in great frustration,
Rahva Haal postulated the involvement of organized crime, asking
"how large might the reward be for destroying the window?" (Riina
Kionka)
USSR - ALL-UNION TOPICS
GORBACHEVS TO OSLO, STOCKHOLM. Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev arrived
in Oslo today (June 5) and will continue on to Stockholm tomorrow.
As the Soviet side insisted, Gorbachev will be met by Norwegian
and Swedish government leaders as well as Nobel Committee officials.
Gorbachev is to deliver his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
at 1:00 P.M. today, and then will meet with Norwegian Prime Minister
Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Gorbachevs are scheduled to have an
audience this evening with King Harald V and Queen Sonja, followed
by a gala banquet at the Royal Palace. (NCA/Suzanne Crow/Sallie
Wise)
PROTESTS OVER GORBACHEV'S VISIT TO OSLO. Reacting to Soviet troop
deployments in Vilnius on June 3, Balts plan to demonstrate against
Gorbachev during his visit to Oslo today (June 5), Western agencies
reported June 4. Five separate protests are planned, mainly by
Balts in exile. Jews, Afghans and Moldavians reportedly will
join the protests. Gorbachev also may face criticism from the
local press and questioning by the Norwegian government and the
Nobel Prize committee about Soviet actions in the Baltics. Norwegian
Foreign Minister Thorwald Stoltenberg told the Norwegian Parliament
June 4 that Norwegian leaders would raise the issue with Gorbachev,
and said "demonstrations of power that we have witnessed do not
serve the cause of peace," agencies reported. (NCA/Gytis Liulevicius)
SUMMIT AT END OF JUNE? According to the German Bild Zeitung (June
4), the US-Soviet summit will take place in Moscow from June
25-27. The paper, citing "well-informed Moscow sources," said
400 beds had been reserved in a Moscow hotel for the US delegation.
Western agencies June 4 also cited a booking agent from a Moscow
hotel as saying the United States is trying to book rooms. However,
TASS and Western agencies yesterday quoted Soviet and US spokesmen
as saying that no firm date for the summit has yet been determined.
Reportedly, a few "technical" obstacles to the START treaty remain
to be worked out. (Suzanne Crow/Sallie Wise)
LUK'YANOV REPORTS TO USSR SUPSOV ON UNION TREATY. Chairman of
the USSR Supreme Soviet Anatolii Luk'yanov told the Supreme Soviet
June 4 that the discussions of the draft Union treaty in Novo-Ogarevo
on June 3 had, in fact, covered all sections of the document,
and that a common opinion had been reached on most articles,
TASS reported June 4. Luk'yanov said the articles delimiting
the powers of the Union and the republics had been agreed on
"virtually without any serious comments." He said that RSFSR
Supreme Soviet Chairman Boris Yeltsin was still objecting to
the concept of federal taxes and had stated that the newly-elected
president of the RSFSR should raise the question in the RSFSR
Supreme Soviet. (Ann Sheehy)
LUK'YANOV, NISHANOV DEFEND POSITION OF USSR SUPSOV. Luk'yanov
told the Supreme Soviet further that the title of the treaty
has caused the most disagreement. He and Rafik Nishanov, chairman
of the Council of Nationalities, had insisted on "Union Treaty,"
but the majority had favored "Treaty on Union of Sovereign States."
He and Nishanov had also expressed the view that only the USSR
Congress of People's Deputies and a referendum could decide whether
the word "sovereign" should be substituted for "socialist" in
the country's name. Finally, Luk'yanov reported that a very important
article had been added to the draft to the effect that the all-Union
parliament and supreme organs of justice should retain their
powers until new organs were formed. (Ann Sheehy)
SHCHERBAKOV ON WESTERN AID. Speaking to the USSR Supreme Soviet
June 4, Soviet First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shcherbakov
said that Western aid to the USSR would help open the Soviet
economy to the global community, TASS reported the same day.
Shcherbakov, who led the delegation of Soviet officials to the
US last week, said that in his discussions of aid with administration
officials he did not propose hard numbers. Shcherbakov said that
any financial aid would be used primarily to help with price
reform and commercializing the banking and financial sector of
the Soviet economy. Shcherbakov stressed that the Soviet side
did not trade away their economic plans for promises of help.
(John Tedstrom)
WHAT IS YAVLINSKY'S ROLE? On the role of Grigorii Yavlinsky,
the reform-minded Soviet economist who was working on a reform
program with economists at Harvard while Shcherbakov and Soviet
presidential adviser Evgenii Primakov were in Washington, Shcherbakov
said that Yavlinsky "was invited to the USA in the capacity of
a private expert and is competently pursuing the line of the
Soviet leadership on the development of cooperation with the
Group of Seven," according to the same TASS report. "He is not
working out any kind of new program or alternative proposals...although
some of his colleagues and several American representatives have
such ambitions. We have once again delineated his powers, and
emphasized that, if he exceeds them, his work will not be acceptable
to us." (John Tedstrom)
USSR - IN THE REPUBLICS
LENINGRAD VERSUS ST. PETERSBURG. Heated debates have arisen over
whether to restore Leningrad's original name of St. Petersburg,
TASS reported June 3. Communists in Leningrad and other cities
have initiated a campaign against the return of the original
name, denouncing as "blasphemy" the proposed referendum on the
issue to be held June 12 in Leningrad. TASS said that in May,
282 RSFSR People's Deputies wrote to the RSFSR Congress saying
an all-Union referendum should be held to take such an important
decision as the renaming of Leningrad (the city where the October
revolution took place). The deputies also suggested that the
USSR and RSFSR parliaments discuss the issue. On June 4, Pravda
and Sovetskaya Rossiya published an appeal by the CPSU CC and
the CPSU's Central Control Commission to "communists and all
honest people" to say a definitive "no" to the organizers of
the referendum on the renaming of Leningrad. (Vera Tolz)
YELTSIN WOOS MILITARY. Yeltsin has signed an agreement with regional
officials in Murmansk designed to give local enterprises greater
economic control, The Christian Science Monitor reported on June
4. Yeltsin said that relations between industrial enterprises
and the RSFSR government will be only through taxes. Later, Yeltsin
visited a naval base at Severomorsk and promised to improve officers'
housing conditions. He stressed that he has no intention of creating
a separate army for Russia. (Alexander Rahr)
YELTSIN ON RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE. Yeltsin called upon local deputies
in Perm' to improve the distribution of land to individual farmers.
Radio Moscow on June 4 quoted him as saying that the material
base of agriculture will improve and that the Kirov plant in
Leningrad--one of the biggest military-industrial plants in the
country--has started to produce tractors instead of tanks. (Alexander
Rahr)
MEDVEDEV SAYS YELTSIN WON'T WIN IN FIRST ROUND. Historian Roy
Medvedev predicted in an interview with Krasnaya zvezda, reported
by Radio Moscow on June 4, that Yeltsin will receive only 40%
of the votes and thus fail to become RSFSR president in the first
round of elections. Medvedev did not exclude the possibility
that former Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov might win--due to
the organizational and propaganda apparatus which backs him.
(Alexander Rahr)
YAKOVLEV MEETS LEADERS OF DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA. USSR presidential
adviser Aleksandr Yakovlev has met with members of the coordinating
council of the "Democratic Russia" movement to discuss the political
situation in the country. One of the co-chairmen of the movement,
Arkadii Murashev, later told Nezavisimaya gazeta (June 3) that
the participants of the meeting agreed that the divide in the
present political process in Russia is between forces which back
Boris Yeltsin and Vadim Bakatin on the one hand, and Nikolai
Ryzhkov and Albert Makashov on the other. TASS on June 3 quoted
Ryzhkov as saying in a meeting with Moscow students that his
present relations with Gorbachev are "cool." (Alexander Rahr)
RSFSR CP ANALYZES OPPOSITION. Izvestia TsK KPSS, No. 5 carries
a sociological portrait of the anti-communist opposition by an
analytical unit of the RSFSR CP Central Committee. The study
is based on profiles of 1363 political opposition figures active
at national and regional levels, and divides the opposition in
the RSFSR into six groups: 1] Former dissidents: people with
an "idea," with whom compromise is impossible. 2] The intelligentsia:
they see the CPSU as an obstacle to their aspirations, but dialogue
and compromise are possible on an individual level. 3] Young
educated people: despite their radical rhetoric, it is possible
and necessary to work with them. 4] Formerly active communists:
they now combat Communism with the same energy they once guarded
Marxist purity, and compromise with them is impossible. 5] Rank-and-file
activists: they are not anti-communists, but oppose bureaucracy
and incompetence. The CP must work with them. 6] The "masses"
(75-80%) of the opposition are driven by Russian patriotism.
Knowing the "real worth" of "Democratic Russia's" leaders, they
nevertheless support them at present. There is a real possibility
for fruitful work with them to change their mood in the "necessary"
direction, the study concludes. (Victor Yasmann)
SHEVARDNADZE OFFERS TO MEDIATE IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN. Speaking
in Paris June 4, Shevardnadze offered to mediate between Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Arguing that the conflict between the two republics
"had reached its apogee," Shevardnadze advocated contacts between
the leadership of the two republics on a weekly or even a daily
basis in order to hammer out a compromise. If such measures failed,
UN General Secretary Perez de Cuellar should be asked to mediate
in the conflict, Western agencies reported June 4. (Liz Fuller)
GAMSAKHURDIA TO VISIT US. TASS June 4 quoted Georgian media reports
that Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia may make an unofficial
visit to the US later this month. Gamsakhurdia would visit the
US Senate and might also meet with President Bush. (NCA/Liz Fuller)
FEDERATION COUNCIL CRITICIZES GEORGIA FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
IN OSSETIA. TASS June 4 summarized a statement issued by the
Federation Council condemning as "a gross violation of the USSR
Constitution and international accords on human rights" what
it terms a campaign to drive ethnic Ossetians out of Georgia.
The outflow of Ossetians from Georgia which began in January
of this year is said to be increasing. (NCA/Liz Fuller)
DISPUTE CONTINUES BETWEEN KYRGYZSTAN AND TAJIKISTAN. A long-running
dispute over land and water rights in villages on the border
between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan continues to affect relations
between the two republics. In 1989, at least one person was killed
and several were injured in fights between villagers; commissions
appointed to resolve the dispute were unsuccessful. This May,
the presidents of the two republics were to meet about the dispute,
but, according to the May 23 issue of Izvestia, the meeting did
not take place. Now the Kirgiz side claims that it was cancelled
by mutual agreement and accuses the Tajiks of bad faith in blaming
the cancellation on the Kirgiz. (Bess Brown)
PLANE SAID TO BOMB TAJIK VILLAGE. According to TASS reports of
June 4, four people were killed and a number were injured when
an unidentified aircraft dropped bombs on a village in Tajikistan
on that day. The two reports differed on the number of bombs
dropped, one giving the number as five, the other as two. Neither
report indicates where the plane came from, but one says it had
been spotted flying over Afghan territory along the Pyandzh River,
which forms the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. According
to TASS, the commander of the Afghan air force is assisting in
the investigation of the incident. (NCA)
TRIAL BEGINS IN TAJIKISTAN. Five people have gone on trial in
Dushanbe on charges of having incited the riots in that city
in February, 1990. According to a report in the May 27 issue
of Izvestia, one of the defendants, R. Saliev, is supposed to
have organized pogroms against Armenians living in a Dushanbe
microraion. The disturbances were reported to have been set off
by rumors that Armenian refugees were being given preference
in obtaining housing in the city; republican Communist Party
chief Kakhar Makhkamov claimed that the rumors were false and
that the handful of refugees who had come to Dushanbe had already
left again. (Bess Brown)
BELORUSSIAN CATHOLICS JOURNEY TO SEE POPE. Border crossing points
between Poland and Belorussia have been opened to allow Belorussian
Catholics to see Pope John Paul II during the Pontiff's current
visit to his homeland. According to TSN on June 5, several hundred
busses carrying Belorussian Catholic believers have crossed into
Poland. An equally large number of Catholics from the Baltic
states are also making the journey. (Kathy Mihalisko)
URANIUM DEPOSITS FOUND IN UKRAINE. Rich uranium deposits were
discovered in Rivne (formerly Rovno) region by the air mapping
expedition "Aerologia" from Moscow, News from Ukraine reported
in its May issue (#18, 1991). The city of Rivne is situated atop
the center of a uranium bed which stretches both east and west
of the region. Further research is needed to determine industrial
viability of the deposits. (Valentyn Moroz)
MOLDAVIA FOUNDS NATIONAL BANK. By a decree of President Mircea
Snegur on June 4, reported by Moldovapres the same day, a Moldavian
National Bank has been created through what is in effect a republican
takeover of the Moldavian branch of the USSR Gosbank. "On the
basis of Moldavia's declaration of sovereignty," the Moldavian
National Bank is empowered to carry out the republic's policy
with respect to money circulation, credit, currency operations,
and control of the republican banking system. The Moldavian National
Bank is due to become operational by December 1991. (Vladimir
Socor)
SNEGUR ON MOLDAVIAN INDEPENDENCE, USSR RESPONSE. In an interview
in Kishinev with a special correspondent of The Independent,
published June 4, Snegur said that his current goal is Moldavian
independence and "the existence of two independent Romanian states,
which in time will integrate economically and culturally." Romania
agrees to this, and "the USSR is not making great efforts to
prevent reunification," Snegur said. (Vladimir Socor)
SNEGUR RECEIVES COMPATRIOTS FROM UKRAINE. On June 3, Snegur met
in Kishinev with representatives of associations of "Romanians
and Moldavians" from southern Bessarabia, northern Bukovina,
and Carpathian Ukraine, Moldovapres reported June 4. Southern
Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, once parts of Moldavia, were
attached to Ukraine after the Soviet annexation. Expressing concern
over denationalization and lack of political representation,
the delegates requested support from Moldavia and Romania for
mother-tongue education and culture in their areas. Snegur announced
that the issues will be submitted to the parliament and government
of Moldavia for examination and possible action. (Vladimir Socor)